Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 563 Suspicion
All officials, clerks and servants of the Xuanzhiyuan, including those who had served in the Xuanzhiyuan before and were still working in the Privy Council, and those who had not been sent to other places or went to other government offices, were gathered in the four large houses of the Xuanzhiyuan and guarded by officials from the Censorate and people from the Quefang.

Many officials were dissatisfied with being treated like suspects and having to eat dinner together with so many people.

"I think this is Yang Yuan's revenge, a personal vendetta!"

An official said indignantly: "Everyone knows that Yang Yuan and Director Zhang of the Xuanzhi Court are not on good terms. Now they actually ask him to handle this case. This is against the rules."

Immediately, some officials and clerks began to complain.

"Yes, I, Cheng, have behaved uprightly and I am not afraid of his investigation, but I should not let someone who is hostile to my Xuanzhiyuan judge the case. We should ask the Prime Minister to ask the Censorate to replace the person!"

"Yes, yes, let's go find the Privy Councilor together..."

Many people responded and were about to rush out of the detention room where they were temporarily detained to ask Yang Cunzhong for help.

Because of the grudge between Yang Yuan and Zhang Mi, they really didn't trust Yang Yuan to make a fair judgment.

However, before they rushed to the door, two people walked in, one was Liu Shangqiu and the other was Lu Chengze.

Both of them were very young and handsome, one in a red robe and the other in a green robe. They stood still and glanced at the crowd.

The person who was originally very emotional and wanted to go to Yang Cunzhong to complain slowly took a few steps back and calmed down.

Although everyone was detained here, some people sat and some could only stand according to their official rank.

Deputy Secretary Wang and Ya Ya He naturally had seats.

Lu Chengze was not familiar with them, and Liu Shangqiu also didn't know the people in the Xuanzhiyuan very well.

He looked around and asked in a deep voice, "Where is Wang Jiayi, the deputy secretary of the Imperial Edict Court?"

Everyone in the Xuanzhiyuan suddenly fell silent and looked at Wang Jiayi in unison.

The new dean of the Imperial Court, who was sitting above Wang Jiayi, looked at Wang Jiayi in surprise and subconsciously dodged.

Although both of them were sitting and the distance between them was extremely limited, their mentality of avoiding suspicion was clearly revealed.

Wang Jiayi's psychological quality is far worse than Zhang Mi's. When he heard someone calling him, his face turned as pale as paper.

A colleague next to him called him something in a low voice, and then he stood up tremblingly.

His expression and behavior were so abnormal that his colleagues immediately noticed something was wrong and their eyes suddenly became more serious when they looked at him.

Lu Chengze sneered and said, "Wang Jiayi, the Chief Censor of the Censorate wants to see you."

As soon as he waved his hand, two guards with knives drawn rushed over and stood on both sides of Wang Jiayi.

This time, Lu Chengze didn't even call Wang Jiayi by his official name. Could it be that he had solid evidence?
When he thought of this, Wang Jiayi felt so shaky that he could not even move a step.

When the two guards saw this, they immediately grabbed him on both sides and half dragged him out.

Lu Chengze asked again: "Who is He Xiao, the official in charge of the Xuanzhi Court?"

Any accomplices?

Everyone in the Xuanzhiyuan suddenly looked at He Xiao again.

Although He Xiao's official position is lower than Wang Jiayi's, his psychological quality is much better than his.

Although He Xiao couldn't help the color change on his face, he slowly stood up, trying to remain calm and keeping his steps steady.

Lu Chengze said: "He Xiao, our deputy judge invites you as well."

He Xiao took a deep breath, tried to remain calm, and walked forward proudly.

Wang Jiayi was taken to the signing room of the Quezi Room. He was feeling very anxious when he saw He Xiao was also brought in. He felt a chill in his heart.

If he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart, his psychological defenses collapsed when he saw that He Xiao was also accurately picked out and brought here.

He stood in the side corridor and watched He Xiao being held hostage by two tall and burly guards and walked directly to the signing room.

In order to appear innocent, He Xiao held his head high and looked straight ahead, and did not even notice Wang Jiayi who was temporarily detained in the side room.

The news was quickly reported to Yang Cunzhong, and Zheng Yuandong was also waiting for news from Yang Cunzhong.

When the two heard that Wang Jiayi, deputy secretary of the Xuanzhiyuan, and He Xiao, the yamen officer, were taken away for interrogation, they looked at each other in surprise.

Zheng Yuandong said, "Is it really the current official of Xuanzhiyuan who committed such an outrageous crime?"

Yang Cunzhong praised: "I have long felt that Yang Yuan is extraordinary. He is indeed not an ordinary person."

In the Que room, the interrogation did not go smoothly.

Yang Yuan asked, "He Xiao, from the 18th year of Shaoxing to the 21st year of Shaoxing, you were in charge of the seal-printing room of the Xuanzhiyuan."

"Not bad!"

"During this period, a new wall was built in the printing house. As the treasurer, are you aware of this?"

"I don't know."

"You are the treasurer, don't you know about this?"

"You don't know, the Imperial Court doesn't have to check seals every day. When there's nothing going on, the storehouse won't be opened for ten days or half a month. It's not surprising that I don't know this."

"In the 19th year of Shaoxing, Kanyinkuli purchased a large amount of paper, ink and other consumables for more than a month.

But before and after this, the printing house did not have any large-scale printing tasks. Where did the materials, which were much more than usual, go?"

"It's been so long that I can't remember clearly. However, since a large amount of materials were purchased at that time, it means there was a need.

Not to mention anything else, just say that last year Qin Hui and others presided over the compilation of historical materials and purchased a large amount of materials, the loss of which was also extremely huge.

Sometimes, if there are mistakes in the inspection, typos, omissions, errors in the engravings and printed materials, then all of them will be scrapped.”

"So, in the 19th year of Shaoxing, when you were inspecting the printing house to purchase a large amount of materials, you came early and left late every day for more than a month. Was it because there was an important printing business during that time?"

He Xiao said cunningly: "I think so, it's been too long, I can't remember clearly."

Lu Chengze was furious and slammed the table and said, “He Xiao, you refuse to confess. Do you want to make your crime even more serious?”

He Xiao glanced at Lu Chengze and said calmly, "What is the origin of this, Censor Lu? I understand that you summoned me here for questioning because you suspect that the female and child corpses in the wall are related to me."

He Xiao became more and more indignant as he spoke: "But, I can tell you that I know nothing about this case.

Killing a woman's young child is outrageous to both humans and gods. He has been reading the books of sages since childhood, so how could he do such a beastly act?

If you accuse He of a crime just because he was in charge of the seal inspection room at that time, He Xiao will never accept it even if he dies."

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "He Yaya, please don't misunderstand me. I am just asking you according to the rules. I have neither tortured you nor accused you of any crime. Why are you so excited?"

He Xiao said excitedly: "Yang Qianxian, you and the former president of the Xuanzhiyuan have a personal grudge, who in the Privy Council doesn't know about this?

Now, you are the one who is investigating this case. How can I not feel uneasy?"

"Yang Chenxian, you were recognized as a great hero for redressing the injustice for General Yue back then. Today, if you have real evidence, just bring it out.

If not, are you going to follow the example of Qin Changjiao, whom you, Yang Qianxian, hate so much, and impose on me a trumped-up charge?"

This sentence is too harsh. Ever since Qin Hui was labeled a traitor and Marshal Yue was able to uphold justice, the phrase "false accusation" has become the cruelest insult.

What kind of person would use "false accusations" to accuse others?

Of course it is someone like Qin Hui, the treacherous minister who will be cursed for eternity!
Yang Yuan's face suddenly changed, and he forced a smile and said, "I am just investigating impartially. Since you were in that time period, you are a major suspect, so I have to investigate you first.

You just need to explain what you know. I will judge cases according to the rules and evidence. Those who are innocent will be innocent and those who are guilty will be guilty. I will not force you to be convicted."

He Xiao said with a look of grief and indignation: "Really? When Censor Lu interrogated me just now, he called me by my name. His arrogant attitude showed that he regarded me as a criminal!
"After entering this signing room, you, Yang Qianxian, have treated me as a criminal. You sit down, and I stand here. How are you different from the presiding judge, and how are I different from the criminal?"

Yang Yuan coughed, glared at Lu Chengze, and shouted, "I said that I asked He Yaya to come over to assist in the investigation. Before the truth is revealed, how can you call him by his name in front of all the colleagues in the Xuanzhiyuan? Our Duchayuan handles cases based on evidence. How can you be so arrogant and bully others?"

Lu Chengze said awkwardly: “Your subordinate… Your subordinate, oh, your subordinate first called He Yaya’s official position, but later I was eager to ask… to ask someone to come over, and I was careless for a moment.”

Yang Yuan forced a smile and said to He Xiao, "I don't regard He Yaya as a criminal. I was just anxious to find out the truth of the case and neglected etiquette. Hey, Censor Lu, why don't you invite He Yaya to sit down and question him."

When He Xiao saw the two's attitude, he couldn't help but feel relieved.

They did find themselves, after all, some traces cannot be concealed.

But can this be used as irrefutable evidence?
Obviously not!

In that case, they can't do anything to me.

As long as I took a tougher stance and there was no hard evidence, I would shout that it was injustice and compare him to Qin Hui who wronged Marshal Yue. After this big hat was put on him, he, a new upstart in the court who valued his reputation, would definitely not be willing to ruin his bright future because of me.

Thinking of this, He Xiao suddenly became bolder.

He walked to the side and sat down proudly. He leaned over to take the teacup handed to him by Lu Chengze, took a sip elegantly and calmly, and said to Yang Yuan in a sincere tone:
"Yang Chenxian, you are a great contributor to the redress of General Yue, and now you have made great contributions. Frankly speaking, I regard you as the pride of my Privy Council. I usually talk about you with my relatives, friends and neighbors, and I am proud of the experience of having served in the same government office with you.

You are an upright person and hate those inhuman beasts. I understand your feelings very well.

I used to be the treasurer of the Seal Examination Office, and I am very familiar with the affairs of the Imperial Edict Proclamation Office. Let me tell you this: if you start your investigation directly from the Imperial Edict Proclamation Office, it will be difficult to find out the truth. "

Yang Yuan humbly asked, "Why did the yamen say that?"

He Xiao said: "In fact, the various departments of our Privy Council are very busy and very idle. There are many idle offices and officials who have nothing to do all year round."

Yang Yuan agreed with this and nodded, saying, "Yes, although I have only been in the Privy Council for a short time, I am familiar with this situation.

Just like the official appointed by the Privy Council, he does not do anything all year round. "

He Xiao was stunned when he heard this: "Ke Ze official? Is there such an official position in our Privy Council?"

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "He Yaya has been working in the Privy Council for more than ten years, how could he not know? The current Privy Council's official Kezhe is named Han Qianchen, and there is indeed such an official in the Privy Council."

"Han Qianchen? I didn't hear... Oh! There is an old Han in the 'East-West Kitchen' who does nothing all day and wanders around everywhere. Could it be that he..."

"Yes, it is this person."

He Xiao laughed dryly, "Well, I thought he was a buyer for the East and West Kitchens."

Yang Yuan shook his head and said, "No, he is the one who is in charge of fortune-telling."

He Xiao smiled and said, "I really know nothing about this. This is the first time I've heard you, Yang Qianxian, mention the name of this position.

Well, coming back to the point, what I mean is that, although my seal-printing office in the Xuanzhiyuan is not as idle as that of this Mr. Han, we don’t have much seal-printing work to do throughout the year.

Just think about it, the books on culture and education, and the classics on Buddhism and Taoism, are all under the management of the Ministry of Rites, and the Privy Council is in charge of military affairs. How many of them need to be printed on woodblocks and distributed throughout the country?

That is to say, during the period when Qin Hui served as Privy Councilor, he took over the task of compiling historical books, just to add a great achievement to his qualifications.

So, the printing house is actually…"

He Xiao confessed somewhat uncomfortably: "So, in fact, the seal inspection room is often full of cobwebs, and the door will never be opened.

If someone secretly made a key during this period and sneaked into the inspection room to do something, it would be like "the dark under the lamp" and no one would be able to find out. "

Yang Yuan frowned, motioned Lu Chengze to continue taking notes, and then asked: "But, I found out that the printing house had received a large amount of materials, this..."

He Xiao said: "Because the people in my seal room have nothing to do, I sometimes take some private jobs outside.

Since materials such as paper and ink could not enter the Privy Council unless they were officially purchased by the Xuanzhiyuan, they could only be purchased from the public account.

However, although we used money from the public account, the income from the private work undertaken by the Printing House had to be handed over to the Privy Council and the Xuanzhiyuan respectively.

This amount of money is enough to make up for previous expenses and there will be a surplus, which will be added to the hospital treasury as daily expenses."

Yang Yuan understood as soon as he heard it.

When he went to Lin'an Prefecture to serve as the Tongpan, he was unable to hand over the affairs to the previous Tongpan Yan Ding because of the problem of the slush fund.

Each government office has its own slush fund, and each department and agency within the government office also has its own slush fund. This is the current situation.

Yang Yuan had no way of making a big fuss about this matter, otherwise he would be making enemies with all the civil and military officials in the court and all the officials in the world.

With current coroner's investigation technology, it is already very rare to be able to determine that the deceased died six or seven years ago. It is impossible to make a more accurate time judgment.

Therefore, even if it is found that He Xiao had purchased a large amount of materials for a period of time, came early and left late, and sneaked into the printing room to use public technology and equipment to print private materials, it is impossible to confirm that the deceased was built into the wall this month.

Moreover, since He Xiao dared to say so, it is very likely that they really took on private work during that period of time.

Even if this matter is investigated thoroughly, I believe that everyone involved can prove this.

Yang Yuan frowned, sometimes nodded, sometimes shook his head, obviously realizing the complexity of this seemingly simple case.

He Xiao said: "In fact, in my opinion, if Yang Qianxian wants to solve this case, he should start with the deceased."

Yang Yuan perked up and asked hurriedly, "What do you mean?"

He Xiao said: "If they are officials in the Privy Council, they are officials from the capital and can bring their families with them. If they are clerks or servants, they are local people in Lin'an.

A little woman with a young child could enter the Privy Council, so she must be their relative.

In other words, this woman and child should be from Lin'an or the female relatives of officials who lived in Lin'an for a long time at that time. "

Yang Yuan's eyes lit up and he asked hurriedly, "So?"

He Xiao said, "A woman with a young child was killed and the body was hidden in the wall. That's a missing person. Women and children are the easiest to be trafficked. How could the Lin'an government not have a record of missing persons reports?"

"Yup!"

He Xiao said: "As long as Yang Qianxian retrieves the records of missing persons reported in Lin'an Prefecture from seven to six years ago, it will not be difficult to confirm the identity of the deceased.

After all, it is rare for a family to have a woman and a child missing at the same time.

Once the identities of the deceased are confirmed, will it be difficult to verify who they were related to in the Xuanzhi Court at the time?"

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

Yang Yuan slammed the table and stood up.

He walked over quickly, grabbed He Xiao, and said excitedly: "He Yaya's words have awakened me from my dream! I have never been a prison officer, so my experience is inevitably insufficient. It is thanks to He Yaya's reminder.

"Okay, okay, I will immediately ask Lin'an Prefecture to provide all the missing persons reports from six or seven years ago. Once this case is solved, I will report it truthfully and ask for credit for you."

He Xiao was flattered and said hurriedly, "No, no, I am also a little old, so it is inevitable that I have heard and seen some cases, and what I said is not reliable. If I can really solve the case, I dare not take the credit."

"No, no, no, when you are an official, you must first get rid of your selfishness. If you don't get rid of your selfishness, you can't serve the public.

This is how I have always been. I will never steal credit from others, and I will never take credit for anything. You can rest assured, He Yaya..."

Outside, Liu Shangqiu had already brought Wang Jiayi, the deputy secretary of the Xuanzhiyuan.

When he heard Yang Yuan "clapping the table in alarm", he immediately called Wang Jiayi over, just in time to see this scene.

Wang Jiayi would definitely see this scene. Even if He Xiao did not take the initiative to offer advice, Yang Yuan would find another reason to "clap the table in joy" and then argue with He Xiao until Wang Jiayi came in and saw it.

As soon as he saw Wang Jiayi being brought in, Yang Yuan immediately let go of He Xiao's hand and walked back to the desk. He said to Lu Chengze, who was taking notes at the side table, in a businesslike manner, "Did you write down everything He Yaya said?"

When He Xiao saw Wang Jiayi, he really wanted to talk to him, but as they were in public, it was inconvenient for him to even hint at him. He had to give Liu Shangqiu a look when he was not paying attention.

Lu Chengze put down his pen and said politely, "He Yaya, please take a look at what I have recorded. Are there any omissions or errors? If there are no mistakes, please sign your name."

He Xiao had no time to communicate with Wang Jiayi anymore, so he had to walk to the desk at the side and pick up the transcript to look at it.

Yang Yuan's expression turned cold, and he said to Wang Jiayi, "Stand aside for a moment, I'll ask you later."

Wang Jiayi's heart sank when he heard this. Yang Yuan's tone...

He Xiao glanced through the transcript and nodded when he saw that the content was correct.

Lu Chengze handed the pen over, and He Xiao signed each page of the transcript. Yang Yuan said, "Send He Yaya back now."

Lu Chengze said to He Xiao with a smile on his face: "He Yaya, please come in."

Liu Shangqiu was standing next to Wang Jiayi. He Xiao could no longer give him any hints, so he could only nod, smile, and go out.

Wang Jiayi immediately became suspicious. Why was He Xiao so calm? Why was he smiling at me? What did he mean by that look he just gave me?
The door slowly closed, and just before it was about to close, Wang Jiayi heard Lu Chengze's voice saying, "The prefectures and counties around Lin'an are not too far away..."

In the courtyard, Lu Chengze walked with He Xiao and continued, "Among the officials and subordinates of the seal-printing office, are there any whose families are settled in the nearby prefectures and counties?"

He Xiao said, "I don't know about this. Censor Lu might as well ask the surrounding prefectures and counties to report all the missing cases from six or seven years ago. After all, it's rare for a girl and a boy to go missing at the same time, so it won't be difficult to investigate."

Lu Chengze nodded and said, "That's right."

In the signing room, Wang Jiayi's mind raced: "The prefectures and counties around Lin'an are not too far away... So, if I can redeem myself with merits, I won't be demoted to a place too far away?"

Yang Yuan sat down at the desk and asked casually, "Wang Jiayi, were you the head of the seal-printing office in the seventeenth year of Shaoxing?"

Wang Jiayi glanced at the desk of Lu Chengze, who was in charge of taking notes. There were four or five pages of notes on it, with ink stains that were almost dry.

Wang Jiayi asked, "Yang Chenxian, aren't you waiting for Censor Lu to take notes?"

Yang Yuan was reminded at once, and said casually: "Oh, then you wait a moment."

Wang Jiayi became even more nervous when he saw his perfunctory attitude.

At that time, I was the head of the printing room, and He Xiao was just a warehouse manager. In terms of status and authority, I was above him.

Now, I am the deputy secretary and he is the yamen officer. Am I still above him?

Why is Yang Yuan polite to him and mean to me?
Could it be that He Xiao has already confessed something?
(End of this chapter)